Thursday, June 27, 2013

No....It's not a Southern problem. Really

As a Liberal Ohioan I am tired.
Very tired.
I am tired of we Northern Liberals being so denigrating and dismissive of the South.We fall back on stereotypes which we decry when they are used on those we support. However we have no problem dismissing Southerners as backward, barefoot, bumpkins and bozos.
We somehow forget the Bill Clintons and Jimmy Carters remembering only the Mike Huckabees and Rick Perrys.
I realize the South is conservative.I also think this may be more a lack of engagement on the part of Democrats and Progressives. We've been known to bitch and moan as we sit on our hands.Take Arkansas. A very RED State Government. I have been told by a friend who lives there that local Government tends to be civilized and Democratic. Control of local politics will eventually give you the State.
The view that women are not real citizens with equal rights, the attack on women's reproductive health, rights and options is not an Old Confederacy issue. It's not a regional issue. It's a Republican issue.
OK. Arkansas passed a very restrictive abortion law earlier this year. Bad hillbillies. Today, The Great State of Ohio, a bastion of The Union during The Civil War is poised to pass the most restrictive abortion legislation since Roe v.Wade became the legal standard re; abortion rights. A Doctor MUST inform a woman a fetal heartbeat is detected before an abortion, IN WRITING.I can't summarize this bill without my head exploding. Google the fuck out of it. Here in Ohio a fetus testified in committee hearings via sonogram as opponents were denied a chance to speak. A Personhood State Constitutional Amendment is raising it's ugly head in a petition drive for a ballot issue.
In Kansas a woman on Medicaid who needs a medically necessary abortion must have it approved personally by the Governor.
Indiana? Restrictive laws.
Pennsylvania? Looking at restrictions.
Michigan? You can't say vagina on the House floor. And restrictive
Anybody else see a pattern here?
What do all these states have in common? Not a part of the Old Confederacy. Not a Southern state. A State Government controlled by a reactionary Republican Party determined to foist their warped "Christian" morality on all of us in contravention of The Establishment clause. They truly believe they have a God given right and duty to codify their "Christian" ideals.
So how do we Northern Liberals climb on our high horse and gallop over the South? How can we justify our dismissive attitudes? How can we ignore the sane voices of Southerners with a vision of what the South can be. We condemn their Dems as Blue Dogs and DINO. Like the RWNJ's we've been known to bankroll a Primary challenge handing the Seat to the GOP. (See Arkansas)
We Liberals seem to seek Unicorns that fart rainbows.
So as Liberals we all need to stand together to stop this return to the theocratic Middle Ages.
The operative words are STAND TOGETHER.
Make it so.